Every year I grow basil in a pot on my deck, and every year by the middle of summer I’ve managed to kill it. I always have grand plans of making pesto and freezing it, but it never seems to happen. Now, however I have another reason to keep that basil plant alive – this basil butter garlic bread! It turns out that when butter is combined with fresh herbs and garlic, slathered on French bread and toasted in the oven, it’s pretty amazing. Add in a little melted parmesan cheese on top and it’s more than amazing. I actually had some leftover basil butter in the fridge after making this that I used it to butter some fresh, warm-out-of-the-oven bread, and it’s safe to say that basil butter is pretty delicious no matter how you eat it.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Combine all the ingredients except the bread and cheese in a food processor, and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut open the loaf of bread and spread both halves with the basil butter. Put the halves together and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the bread, separate the halves and add the Parmesan cheese. Return them to the oven and change the tempereature to 500ºF. (You could also put them under the broiler.) Cook until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and starting to get brown.

14 Responses to “Basil Butter Garlic Bread”

Hi Megan,
I’ve been reading your posts for months but I never comment (I know, shame on me), until now. Wow! So simple and so yummy. This is something I can totally start doing and with no stress involved. I just wonder why your recipe calls for olive oil with the butter? Then again, Land O Lakes sells a spreadable butter mixed with olive oil so I guess that’s it?

Looks fantastic, Megan! I grow basil in a small container garden on my patio and I can’t keep it alive past mid-summer, either! This year, I’m going to try my hardest to make it survive so I can try your recipe. I love garlic bread in any form and herb butters are a great way to add flavor to so many recipes.

Megan! I was so excited to make this tonight! Mainly b/c I LOVE really crunchy bread and I love pesto! Well, I had it all figured out that my picky kids would snuff their noses at it and then it would be all mine!!! WELL, GUESS WHAT??? They freakin LOVED it! I made it on Ciabatta bread and it was SO awesome! My 7 year old Son loved it the most! Even more than me! He keeps coming back in the kitchen and grabbing more and more! So I just wanted to say thanks!